Pictures: Dinner at Taberna del Alabardero in 2013 (See: Dinner with Spanish Winemaker Antonio Jose Bleda Jimenez, Bodegas Bleda, at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC, USA) and in 2022
Back again at Taberna Del Alabardero in
Washington DC after an interruption of several years due to covid.
The Taberna del Alabardero is a renowned Basque restaurant in Madrid owned by Luis Lesama - a Madrid classic. The Taberna Del Alabardero in Washington DC (opened in 1989) is his only venture abroad (after Luis Lesama closed Seattle); it is arguably the best Spanish restaurant on the East Coast of the US. In addition to the superb menu and wine list, the decor is impressive and almost screams you will be treated like royalty.
Annette and I were regulars there mostly for wine dinners but also for Happy Hour at the bar. This time, it was a private dinner in one of the private rooms that feature dark walls, gold embellishments, a pretty chandelier and a large painting.
Memories of many very nice evenings at Taberna del Alabardero came back.
Apéritif
Dinner
Tapas to Share
Starter
Main Course
Dessert
The Wines
Taberna Del Alabardero
This piece of Spain, just steps from The White House, will transport you to an elegant and royal atmosphere surrounded by friendly faces, an engaging menu and world-renowned wines.
Taberna Del Alabardero opened its doors in 1989, becoming one of the first Spanish restaurants in DC, and celebrated its 30 Anniversary with the 2019 Honorary RAMMY award. Spanish Chef Oscar Ordoñez brings back the authentic Spanish Cuisine and introduces new dishes with traditional ingredients.
Taberna’s seasonal menu features classic tapas, luscious paellas, refreshing sangria, and delicious desserts, as well as vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Eater Washington DC
Taberna del Alabardero feels more like a Spanish castle
than a downtown dining room. The walls are ornately decorated in rich
red wallpaper and there are old-school portraits hanging everywhere.
Whether it’s lunch, brunch, or dinner, this is one of Washington’s
oldest institutions for classic Spanish cuisine.
Washington Post
The red interior with the high ceilings and the glittering chandeliers
couldn’t be more regal than if the king of Spain were sitting next to
you. Yet the trick to ordering well at Taberna del Alabardero is to
focus on the basics (and the tapas list): anchovies shimmering in
vinegar, tender baby squid served with rice and a tomato-bread sauce,
molten ham croquettes dispensed in a little fry basket. Conversation is
put on hold as everyone watches cod carpaccio and marinated salmon get
unleashed from a glass cloche filled with smoke, part of a mosaic
completed with olives and tomato balls. But the fun is more in the show
than in the flavors. And hen soup with thin noodles, a quail egg and a
cracker sail seems lost in translation. The paella — grace mine with
lobster, mussels and calamari, por favor — is as grand as the room in
which it’s presented. Come dessert, rice pudding bests the flan. As
expense-account places go, this one, near the city’s corridors of power,
impresses as much with overheard conversations (“As the prime minister
told me ...”), many in Spanish, as anything else.
Bye-bye
Memories: Previous Wine Dinners
Pictures: Christian Schiller and Vincente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, Count of Creixell, the owner of Spain's famous Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC. See: Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta Winemaker Dinner at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC, USA/Spain
Picture: Annette Schiller (ombiasyPR and WineTours) and Christian Schiller with Santiago Vivanco of Bodegas Dinastía Vivanco in Rioja at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC. See: Winemaker Dinner with Santiago Vivanco of Bodegas Dinastía Vivanco in Rioja at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC
Picture: Christian G.E.Schiller with Alejandro Luna Beberide. See: Alejandro Luna Beberide from Bodegas y Vinedos Luna Beberide in Spain at the Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC
Pictures: Nicolas Glumineau of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Christian Schiller Tasting 16 Vintages with 24 Bordeaux Lovers in Washington DC. See: Massive (16 Vintages) Tasting of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande with MD/ Winemaker Nicolas Glumineau and Panos Kakaviatos in Washington DC, USA
ombiasy WineTours: Wine Tour Schedule 2023 - Austria, Germany/East, Burgundy/ Champagne, Germany/ North
Dinner at a Historic (Second Empire) Café-Brasserie in Lyon: Grand Café des Négociants - Rhône Valley Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Culture and History, France
Maison Guigal in Ampuis, Côte Rôtie, Northern Rhône: Cellar Tour, Tasting and Vineyard Tour - Rhône Valley Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Culture and History, France
Tour and Tasting at
Château Haut-Bailly, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Cellar Master Jean Christoph - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by
ombiasy WineTours, France
How Does the Negociant System in Bordeaux Work? Tour and Tasting at Millésima - Bordeaux Tour 2022 by ombiasy WineTours, France
Cellar Tour and Tasting with Daniel Wagner at Weingut Wagner-Stempel (VDP) in Siefersheim, Rheinhessen - Germany-South and Alsace 2022 by
ombiasy WineTours
Tasting with Helmut Dönnhoff and Sascha Johannes Schömel at Weingut Dönnhoff (VDP) in Oberhausen, Nahe - Germany-South and Alsace 2022 by ombiasy WineTours
2022 Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in McLean, Virginia, USA
Christian Schiller`s SCHILLER-WINE Blog on Corking Wines` Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 List
The Wines of Germany: Presentation by Annette Schiller at the German Embassy in Washington DC/ Consular Conference December 2021
Massive Tasting of Bordeaux 1982 - the Vintage that made Robert Parker a Star, USA/ France
Carl Willner, Christian Schiller and Ken Bensley of the German Wine Society/ Washington DC Chapter (Re-)elected to the National Board, USA, Germany
"Silent Winds, Dry Seas" - Literary Salon: Book Reading and Discussion with the Author Vinod Busjeet Followed by Dinner at the Schiller Residence in Virginia, USA
The American Wine Society National Conference 2022 in Bellevue/ Seattle, Washington State - Seen through Christian Schiller`s Camera Lens
The End of the "Grosslage" in Germany - Seminar about the new German Wine Law of 2022 at the 2022 American Wine Society National Conference in Bellevue/ Seattle, Washington State, led by Annette Schiller
Christian Schiller: Re-elected to the Board of the "Weinfeder", the Association of German Wine Journalists
2022 Holiday Party of the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter) at the Cosmos Club in Washington DC Downtown, USA/ Germany
In the Kitchen: Chef Javier Romero at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC, USA
Alejandro Luna Beberide from Bodegas y Vinedos Luna Beberide in Spain at the Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC
Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta Winemaker Dinner at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC, USA/Spain
DC Food Bloggers Happy Hour at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC, US
Massive (16 Vintages) Tasting of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande with MD/ Winemaker Nicolas Glumineau and Panos Kakaviatos in
Washington DC, USA
Dinner with Spanish Winemaker Antonio Jose Bleda Jimenez, Bodegas Bleda, at Taberna del Alabardero in Washington DC, USA
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